Transit City Plan

[kEiThZ]

Relax everybody.

Let's sit back and see what happens. There'll be some compromises. Ford would come off as a total schmuck if he didn't deliver any of his transit promises. But that would give him the perfect excuse to rally the city against Dalton in the next election. So there'll be some give and take. I predict the scrapping of the SRT and the extension of the BD line to STC, and the retention of the Sheppard and Eglinton LRTs. The rest I am not so sure about.

 

[LAz]

Wasn't ford campaigning on expanding subways??

The plan, released Wednesday morning pledges to extend the Sheppard subway line to Scarborough Town Centre, where it would meet up with the Bloor-Danforth's SRT extension.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...plan-focuses-on-subways-roads/article1699455/

"If we get money, I'll take anything I can," said Mr. Ford. "As of now there's no sense in planning for it, if you don't have the money." He mentioned Sheppard and the Eglinton line as two possible subway candidates. "I know there is a push to finish the Sheppard subway," he said. "We could look at doing Eglinton... whatever the people want. This is all after public consultation, the whole nine yards."

Read more: http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/...nts-subways-not-streetcars.aspx#ixzz13TYaO01v

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/...28/rob-ford-wants-subways-not-streetcars.aspx




If he's gonna kill transit city, he may as well kill the dumbest lines (sheppard and eglinton) rather than ones such as finch.

 

[sixrings]

If he's gonna kill transit city, he may as well kill the dumbest lines (sheppard and eglinton) rather than ones such as finch.

If hes gonna kill transit city he miswell COMPLETE Sheppard and EGLINTON as SUBWAYS and scrap the rest...

 

[LAz]

True say.

 

[Dan416]

I don't know if Ford will put any rational thought into what parts of TC he scraps and which he keeps (if any).

But to think TC is going forward as planned by Miller is completely deluded.

 

[Anth]

Here's an interesting link that came up on Google News just now:

CTV: McGuinty open to Ford's ideas on Transit City

 

[Filip]

Here's an interesting link that came up on Google News just now:

CTV: McGuinty open to Ford's ideas on Transit City

Exactly as I thought.. McGuinty knows his career is at stake - ignoring Ford and the Toronto electorate is political suicide.

 

[Rainforest]

Relax everybody.

Let's sit back and see what happens. There'll be some compromises. Ford would come off as a total schmuck if he didn't deliver any of his transit promises. But that would give him the perfect excuse to rally the city against Dalton in the next election. So there'll be some give and take. I predict the scrapping of the SRT and the extension of the BD line to STC, and the retention of the Sheppard and Eglinton LRTs. The rest I am not so sure about.

That would be an interesting outcome: Ford implements the transit plan of his main rival.

However, don't forget the little thing called "Save Our Sheppard coalition". Ford himself would probably not bother fighting to cancel SELRT, or for any transit-related issue, but there exists a business opposition to LRT on Sheppard and they will call him on his promise.

So, my prediction is somewhat different from yours:
- SELRT gets canceled, even if it means a good deal of public money is wasted on penalties
- Sheppard subway extension is promised instead, but never gets built because of the funding limits (best case scenario is that 2 or 3 stations are added in the east, and even that is unlikely)
- BD extension to STC does happen, since some form of high-order transit in that corridor is a must

I wouldn't be surprised though if Ford allows the Eglinton LRT plans to proceed: it is largely underground and would not be seen as about-face for him, and will utilize a large percentage of the already-ordered light rail vehicles. And I never heard of any "Save Our Eglinton" coalition that would oppose surface LRT through the Golden Mile.

 

[jwill]

I could see the surface sections of Eglinton being cut (phase 1 only has Jane-Weston and Don Mills-Kennedy as surface sections) and moving that money to creating a fully segregated (mostly underground) alignment from the Humber river to the Don. Ford would be smart to re-brand it as a "subway", use up those LRTs we already ordered, and claim that he replaced transit city with a subway built on the cheap.

 

[kEiThZ]

Rainforest,

Good take. I could see your scenario.

Something has to be done about transit on Sheppard though. And the Save our Sheppard coalition was never anti-transit. Just anti-LRT from what I gather. I could see a 2-3 stop extension coming into play. Also, SOSheppard was really an Agincourt East based group. It wasn't so much the other parts of Sheppard fighting the LRT.

From a personal perspective, I'll be happy if they get the subway to Kennedy. What happens beyond there is not really concerning because at least reaching Kennedy leaves open the potential to then reach STC. But if you reach Kennedy, the case for LRT beyond that also significantly diminishes given that you can take a bus from Meadowvale to Kennedy in less than 30 mins...and cheap bus lanes would cut that down significantly too. That said, I am skeptical Sheppard will be see a significantly altered outcome.

 

[Rainforest]

I could see the surface sections of Eglinton being cut (phase 1 only has Jane-Weston and Don Mills-Kennedy as surface sections) and moving that money to creating a fully segregated (mostly underground) alignment from the Humber river to the Don. Ford would be smart to re-brand it as a "subway", use up those LRTs we already ordered, and claim that he replaced transit city with a subway built on the cheap.

I see the point of your proposal. But Ford's team is more likely to seek political expedient solutions rather than technically optimal. Let's see what it means for them.

 

[Filip]

I see the point of your proposal. But Ford's team is more likely to seek political expedient solutions rather than technically optimal. Let's see what it means for them.

McGuinty has just stated that he will work with Ford to bring the transit plan that Toronto wants.

That means TC is dead. I personally hope for the tunneled section of Eglinton becomes a full subway and Sheppard, BD are extended to STC.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I could see Eglinton remaining a LRT as a politically paletable comprimise...

Sheppard subway gets completed from Downsview (hopefully beyond) to STC. The central Eglinton tunnel is built to run LRT's and second look at the plans for the out portions maybe leads to it being completely grade separated.

Ford can then say that he built the best out a bad situation

 

[Filip]

I could see Eglinton remaining a LRT as a politically paletable comprimise...

Sheppard subway gets completed from Downsview (hopefully beyond) to STC. The central Eglinton tunnel is built to run LRT's and second look at the plans for the out portions maybe leads to it being completely grade separated.

Ford can then say that he built the best out a bad situation

Switching Eglinton into a subway is probably the easiest to do of all the TC lines. The tunnels and stations are already designed to be subway-specific and it wouldn't take much to convert the whole line. The TBMs are there and preliminary engineering has been completed. If the TTC is honest about it being convertible to subway I see no issues with doing it from the getgo. I'm sure this is also palatable for McGuinty.

As for the vehicles ordered for TC - they could easily be repatriated to other provincial funded LRT programs in Ontario - namely Mississauga, KW and Ottawa.

 

[The Mad Navigator]

McGuinty has just stated that he will work with Ford to bring the transit plan that Toronto wants.

That means TC is dead. I personally hope for the tunneled section of Eglinton becomes a full subway and Sheppard, BD are extended to STC.

Scary that you have such a hard on for all things TC....

and keep thinking that Eglinton underground portion will be a subway, it's pretty funny!